U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,057,159, 4,059,198 and 4,485,932 disclose child-resistant prescription packages that include a container or vial, a closure, and a spring/seal disk disposed between the closure and the container. The closure has a skirt with internal lugs that cooperate with locking notches on external projections around the mouth of the container for securing the closure to the container. An internal abutment on the closure cooperates with the spring/seal disk to urge the closure away from the container so that the lugs are resiliently captured within the notches. When it is desired to remove the closure, the closure must be pushed toward the container (and/or the container pushed toward the closure) so that the lugs clear the notches and the closure may be rotated off of the container. When the closure is assembled to the container, the lugs cam beneath convex surfaces on the container projections against the force of the spring element until the lugs snap into the notches on the projections.
The internal lugs on the closure skirt must be of relatively sharp contour so that the closure cannot readily be simply pried or pulled off of the container. For this reason, the closures cannot readily be simply axially stripped from the mold core following the molding operation. Rather, the mold core typically must be of relatively complex construction with an end portion that rotates with respect to the remainder of the core to clear a path for axial travel of the lugs when the closure is removed from the core. One objective of the present disclosure is to provide a closure of the described type that is constructed to facilitate simple axial stripping of the closure from the mold core during the demolding operation. Another objective of the present disclosure, which may be implemented separately from or in combination with the first objective of the disclosure, is to provide a closure and a package that are readily convertible from child-resistant operation to non-child-resistant operation.
The present disclosure includes a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A closure in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure includes a skirt and internal lugs on the skirt. The skirt has an undulating circumferential contour that includes alternate outwardly convex and outwardly concave portions, with the internal lugs being disposed within the outwardly concave portions of the skirt. The skirt preferably is sufficiently flexible to allow the outwardly concave portions of the skirt to assume an outwardly convex geometry as a result of outward pressure on the internal lugs during demolding of the closure. The closure thus may be simply axially stripped from the mold core during the demolding operation without requiring movement of portions of the mold core to clear a path for travel of the lugs. The lugs preferably are shaped as an inverted U that opens toward a free edge of the skirt, further to facilitate demolding of the closure.
A package having child-resistant and non-child-resistant modes of operation, in accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, includes a container having an open end and at least one external engagement element spaced from the open end. A closure has a base wall, a skirt extending from the base wall, and at least one internal engagement element on the skirt for engaging the at least one external engagement element on the container in a child-resistant mode of operation. At least a portion of the skirt containing the internal engagement element is severable from the remainder of the closure for non-child-resistant operation of the closure. An annular wall extending from the base wall within the skirt engages the open end of the container, and an annular pocket is disposed on the external surface of the annular wall adjacent to the base wall for snap-receipt of the open end of the container in the non-child-resistant mode of operation. In the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one internal engagement element on the closure skirt includes angularly spaced internal lugs, and the at least one external engagement element on the container includes a corresponding number of external projections with undersurface notches. However, other engagement elements, such as interlocking threads with locking lugs and gaps, also are contemplated.